Marie D. Jones's new book, PSIence explores the
startling connection between Quantum Physics and the
paranormal. Many paranormal investigators are attempting to
apply science to the paranormal for several years now. But
Quantum Physics takes the idea to entirely new mathematical
levels. Jones makes this new science accessible and explores
the many connections between reported phenomena and the
theories posed by Quantum Physicists. Ghostvillage.com
recently caught up with Marie to ask her about her new
book.

What first got you interested in the paranormal?

Marie D. Jones: Iíve been interested in ghosts and UFOs and Bigfoot since I was a child, when I often saw strange things and my Snoopy doll spoke to me, and was told by my parents that it was just an overactive imagination. I still beg to differ. I had nightmares practically every night as a child, vivid enough to send my into my parents' room. And I had tons of imaginary friends, and no one can tell me that my friend the alligator who carried a briefcase was not real. His name was Peenafurt Franklin, and my family actually went on later to name three of our dogs after him! I was always fully aware as a child that there was more to life than meets the eye. I see that same belief and acceptance now in my own five year old son, Max, and hope to nurture it in him, because it led me to be the curious person I am today who likes to write books that boggle the mind and make people crazy.

Because I began reading at a very young age, I grew up devouring books and learning and exploring the world in my backyard. My dad was an earthquake and volcano expert, so we had earth science books everywhere, and I was a bit of a tomboy, with a rock tumbler and geology kit. No dollies for me, in fact, I was so terrified of my sisterís dolls, I would turn their heads at night to face away from
me! I was a science nut, but also very aware of the magical world around me, and naturally my imagination found ways to merge the two all through my life. Plus we had a neighbor who was a total UFO buff and he and my dad liked to talk about that stuff, so I got exposed to it at a very pure age when my mind accepted everything as possible.

I always knew, from a very early age, I was destined to be a writer, and I can tell you that my first book was about life on Mars, written at age five. I also wrote ghosts stories and read them into our reel-to-reel tape recorder. Remember those? I am a child of the
60s. What can I say?

How did you make the connection between quantum psychics and the
paranormal?

I kept thinking that it all comes down to energy, and communication between energy frequencies and matter, and because I read so much I would often even find connections in books that were on other subjects entirely. It started to become obvious that the paranormal was really the normal not yet explained, and that quantum physics, which examines reality on the most minute of levels, the quantum level, had the most promise of explaining things in the larger sense. If we could see how things worked in the microcosmic, we could then get an idea of how they might be working in the macrocosmic level.

Some of the earliest and most basic laws of QP (quantum physics) actually, to me, hold the most opportunity for explaining paranormal stuff. The theories of non-locality and entanglement tell us that particles are connected on a level beyond space and time, and that particles can communicate with one another instantaneously over massive
distances... which opens the door for matter and energy to move between dimensions and universes, and often very quickly. I saw parallels here to reports of ghosts and spectral creatures and even
UFOs that appear to flash into and out of existence. Where do they come from, and to where
do they go? Alternate dimensions and parallel universes could be behind their ability to pop in and out of our vision. I also saw parallels to ESP, remote viewing, and clairvoyance. I mean, if particles could communicate across space and time in a flash, why not our thought, our intention, our conscious energy?

Do you think quantum psychics will ever be able to explain all
paranormal phenomena or will there still be room for the spiritual?

I think it just might, because ultimately, QP is all about what goes on at the most minute level of reality, and so it seems it could be suggestive of what is happening on the grander scale. I am a firm believer that science can explain everything paranormal, but that modern science has not done this yet, though we are catching up! Two weeks ago, I found an article on a science
Web site that says two Cornell University physicists have successfully moved a particle just by looking at it, and now they are going to attempt to make one particle appear in two places at the same time.
And another article about how we have successfully made an object disappear by using manipulated microwave
energy... so science is catching up.

Science to me explains how things work, their structure. Spirituality, on the other hand, explains their essence. You cannot have a complete picture of the whole without both. So the two worlds really are just two ends of the same yardstick by which we measure reality. Both are equally necessary to a complete picture of wholeness, or you end up with a yardstick that is short by about, say, half a yard!

Throughout history there have always been scientists who would delve into
the mysteries of the supernatural and metaphysical. Is it becoming more
acceptable for scientists today to study the science behind this phenomenon
or is there still a stigma?

Yes to both parts of that question! Yes, there is still a stigma and many holdouts in the science community who
refuse to believe anything that smacks of the paranormal, spiritual, metaphysical. And yes, more and more scientists in all fields of study are coming on board and looking deeper into the possibilities of what might exist, even if it cannot be consistently duplicated in a laboratory.

This is especially true of quantum and theoretical physicists, who are used to dealing with the bizarre world of the very small, which in many cases makes the paranormal look quite normal! and who are often mavericks that must think outside of the box in order to further their research.

Do you personally think SchrŲdinger's cat is dead or alive?

That poor suckerís been dead all this time, and the next person to open the box is going to have one pissed off feline ghost to deal with!
MEOWWWWW- HISSSSS!

The 1984 Tina Resch poltergeist cases which you discuss in PSIence is one
of the better documented cases of modern times, but she wasn't able to
perform consistently. Are more people coming forward with this ability to be
studied or are folks who may be suffering through a poltergeist staying in
the closet. If so, why?

That seems to be the big problem with paranormal phenomena -- its inability to consistently manifest when and where you want it to! But scientists need to understand that they are the ones that need to adapt, not the phenomena! Scientists seem to think, and I am generalizing here, that if something doesnít hold itself up to the scientific method, it isnít real, but maybe itís the method that doesnít hold up to the thing being studied. When you are dealing with energy and matter, and laws that govern their behavior, we still know so little, and poltergeists and ghosts, as well as UFOs and spectral creatures like Mothman and others, simply do not behave in a consistent manner, which indicates even moreso that they are perhaps coming from another dimension or reality where they
do conform to their own standards and laws. Just not ours. It is incredibly arrogant to think we are alone out there, or in there I should add, and that our laws alone govern all that there is. Even more arrogant, and ignorant, to think we know it all, when clearly people are experiencing stuff
every day that we cannot explain in mathematical
equations... at least not just yet.

I clearly think people suffering with ghosts and poltergeists are becoming much more bold about reporting them, simply because of the proliferation of paranormal research groups available to help them, the mediaís help in making these things more mainstream, and, most notably, the Internetís allowing them to do so with some level of anonymity. I would still suggest that, especially in heavily Christian and religious areas of the country (or world), these things cannot be talked about as openly, for fear of retribution by the Church or by community members who do not understand the phenomena. I experienced this as a teenager with a friend whoís family was suffering with a poltergeist. The Church was useless!

Thanks to all those TV and cable shows about ghost hunters and whisperers, though, it seems to be pretty acceptable now, having these phenomena occur. I mean, my devoted Catholic grandmother is now owning up to seeing many ghosts, even a UFO, when she was growing
up!

There are many paranormal investigative groups today trying to apply
science to the esoteric. Do you think they're on the right track with
electromagnetic field meters, Geiger counters, and thermal couplers or is
there another direction they should be exploring?

I believe they are on the right track, and that the more scientific methods they can apply, the better, keeping in mind, though, that perhaps the phenomena they are dealing with may call for new developments in the types of technology needed. But EMF meters and
such are great for getting physical, tangible information and data, and I regard ghost hunting organizations that use this stuff as fundamental to closing the gap between the known and unknown. That is not to say that someone canít sense or perceive a real ghost without the stuff, but for the field to be taken more seriously at the scientific level, then the means of information gathering must rise to the occasion, along with the investigators. There is just not a lot of room out there for people who do not truly take this stuff seriously. It is a science itself, one we are only beginning to lay down the data for and get some semblance of understanding about how it works, and where it might be coming from. And that is because of individuals who understand the importance of doing things in a professional, scientific manner.

Not that I donít find getting drunk and pulling out the Ouija Board a fun thing to do on a Saturday
night! (Hey, I didnít say I did it, did I?)

Has researching and writing PSIence forced you to change your perspective
on the afterlife?

Not really. I always felt that energy never ceased to exist, it just changed and transformed. Although delving into the connections between QP and consciousness has confirmed my belief that we will continue on with an awareness, even as we get rid of our bodies. QP seems to indicate that there are such things as ďendless, eternal, infinite.Ē It never made sense to my analytical mind that we were here for just one quick go-around, and that our consciousness blinked out when we died, and quantum physics and the strange behavior of particles and matter and this potential Zero Point Field all seem to back me up that everything exists as a part of everything else, which means we are infinite in some sense. If we are all a part of the web, that web includes past, present, and future, all that is and ever was, and every thought, word, action, and intention.

So that gives me great hope, even as the mystery itself stays intact! I figure the afterlife is the ultimate mystery of
this life, and that once I get there, Iíll find out what the next ultimate mystery of
that life is. I just hope they have good Kung Pao Chicken.

What future projects are you working on now?

I am working on a book with my dad, a retired geophysicist, called
Supervolcano: The Catastrophic Event That Changed the Course of Human
History, which documents the super-eruption of the Toba, Sumatra volcano about 75,000 years ago. Toba caused major climate change, and almost wiped out humanity. New genetic evidence using mitochondrial DNA suggests that every single person alive today is descended from the small number of Toba survivors. So that means we really are all connected, even at the genetic level!

We will also look at how natural disasters shaped religious belief and superstition, and what would happen today if another Toba erupted, maybe this time at Yellowstone or Long Valley, California. That book is due for release in August of 2007 by New Page Books. I am also shopping a crime caper script called
Once Upon a Crime to producers, written with veteran screen and stage writer Helen Cooper; have several short scripts out to indie producers; and I am finishing two novels that were written during NANO - National Novel Writing Month this year and last, a worldwide competition during which you must write a 50,000 word novel in one month. You get to edit later, of course!

I also hope to one day in the very near future clean my house, pull my weeds, and catch up on laundry. And maybe pay my bills.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

Baskin-Robbins Peanut Butter and Chocolate. I could eat it by the quart, and confess to on occasion doing so. I would plunder and pillage small villages to get some. Do you have Baskin-Robbins out your way? If not, then consider your village
safe... for now!